Bulgaria-Greece gas pipeline project receives initial bids

A total of 11 firms or groups, including Italy’s Saipem and a consortium that includes Azeri state firm SOCAR, have submitted initial bids to build the planned gas pipeline between Bulgaria and Greece, Reuters reports. Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (ICGB) is estimated to cost 145 million euros to build, and the contractor with the winning bid will have 18 months to complete the project. After 2020, ICGB is expected to receive 1 billion cubic meters of gas per year from Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz 2 gas field by way of the Trans Anatolian Pipeline, thus putting an end to Bulgaria’s near complete dependence on Russian gas supplies.